Coventry Building Society has posted strong half-year results for 2023, highlighting above-market growth in its savings and mortgage sectors.
“In a fast-moving interest rate environment, we continue to do the basics right,” said Steve Hughes, chief executive at Coventry Building Society. He attributed the society’s performance to attracting more members through great value products and brilliant service.
“We’ve grown our mortgage balances in a broadly flat market, with gross advances of £4bn, more than 5% up on the same period in 2022,” Hughes explained. “Our quality of lending and proactive approach to supporting customers has kept arrears low at 0.22%, less than a third of the industry average.”
The CEO noted that the rising interest rate environment posed challenges for homeowners, landlords, and tenants. However, the society remained committed to staying open for business and providing essential services and support.
“Paying amongst the best savings rates in the market has meant we’ve increased the premium we pass on to members to £163m, more than 60% higher than the same period last year, with a particular focus on rewarding loyalty,” said Hughes. This approach has resulted in the opening of more than 400,000 new savings accounts in the first half of the year.
Hughes further emphasised the society’s robust financial foundation: “Our competitiveness and service are based on strong financial foundations. We’ve delivered strong profitability and increased our capital strength by balancing the benefit we return to today’s members with protecting and investing in the Society for the benefit of future members.”
He also pointed to the society’s commitment to the community, mentioning their improved ranking as one of the UK’s Great Places to Work, their partnership with Centrepoint to end youth homelessness, and their recent B Corp accreditation.
Performance highlights of the period include a 1.7% growth in mortgage balances to £48.8bn and gross advances of £4.0bn, up 5.2% from H1 2022.
